Providence
Providence is an extremely powerful, and supposedly ancient, secretive cabal that controls all of the world's affairs, having members all over the globe. Starting as a collaboration between the former cold war spy Janus, and three influential families, Providence was formed around the 1970's or 1980's. They even took control of entire countries, notably during a coup in Paraguay in 1985Appearing in "Agent 47: Birth of the Hitman", Volume 1, and a failed coup in Morocco in 2019.Appearing in "A Gilded Cage" Their leaders are the heads of the three founding families, Carl Ingram, Alexa Alice Carlisle, and Marcus Stuyvesant. History Providence's Origins According to the Constant, Arthur Edwards, Providence began centuries ago with three wealthy dynasties called the Ingrams, the Carlisles and the Stuyvesants. These dynasties began secretly pooling their money and resources for many generations, which led to the birth of a cabal. With the recruitment of Janus, a legendary KGB agent, Providence was born. In the 1980's, Janus, now the advisor to the three families, secretly recruited the renowned Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer, to create obedient clones, that were able to kill everyone without remorse. His genetic experimentation took place within Satu Mare, Romania, under the guise of a mental institution. Two young test subjects, Subject 47 and Subject 6, made a pact and escaped from the institute before coming across a small farming community. They were taken in by a family, but in the following morning they were tracked down by Janus' men. The family, as well as any other witnesses, were murdered and the two subjects brought back to the institution. The instigator - Subject 6, was seemingly killed as punishment while Subject 47 and the remaining clones had their memories and emotions wiped to prevent the possibility of any additional incidents. Unbeknownst to Ort-Meyer, Janus or any other members of Providence, Subject 6 survived and would go into hiding for a number of decades. HITMAN™ Events Subject 6, now known as Lucas Grey, was working as the head of security for Milton-Fitzpatrick, when he discovered that his employer, CEO Eugene Cobb, was a Providence operative. Accepting that he would never truly be free from Providence, he plotted to eliminate Cobb and wage a silent war against the shadow government. Grey learned that Cobb was not just a regular member of Providence, but a key-bearer, one in possession of a key that allowed access to a vault within New York, containing information on Providence's assets and operatives. Armed with this knowledge, during a business trip across the pacific, Grey assassinated Cobb before stealing his vault key and allowing the plane to crash into the ocean as a supposed accident. The vault required a pair of keys to open however, and Grey would go on to create his own militia to aid him in his efforts to destroy Providence. Later, Providence's efforts across the globe curiously began to fail. In a small coastal town of Italy, the Ether Corporation, a front for Providence, was secretly working on the Ether Virus, a DNA tracking biological agent designed to discreetly assassinate people of interest. The virus was destroyed, and bio-engineers Silvio Caruso and Francesca De Santis were eliminated to ensure that the virus could not be replicated. Not long after, Providence attempted to stage a military coup in Morocco. Led by Army General and Providence operative Reza Zaydan, Providence plotted to overthrow the Rabat government by inciting the country's population into riots and staging the coup in the name of national security. However, both Zaydan and Claus Hugo Strandberg, the banker that had enraged the Morrocan people, were eliminated and the riots consequently subsided. The Constant, refusing to believe the two incidents were coincedental, took to New York alongside Milton-Fitzpatrick's newest CEO Mr. Fanin to inspect the vault, only to discover that it had been ransacked. Behind the scenes, Lucas Grey had obtained limited knowledge of Providence's operations from IAGO, a spy network, and began anonymously tipping off interested parties of Providence's activities. These people would go on to become clients of the ICA, and multiple contracts were put in place to secretly eliminate Providence operatives. Agent 47, formerly Subject 47, took the contracts, unknowingly being manipulated into attacking Providence. After the destruction of the Ether Virus, Lucas Grey tracked down and executed a second Providence key-bearer who had came to determine the cause, finally giving Grey access to the vault. Following the assassination of Jordan Cross, Thomas Cross, father and reclusive media mogul, was kidnapped during the following funeral and later found shot to death. The murder was no coincidence; the ICA realized that each of the contracts were linked by a mysterious anonymous tip. Naming the tipper 'the Shadow Client', ICA began to hunt down their location. Providence, upon learning that the ICA was responsible for thwarting their plans, got in contact with Erich Soders, director of the ICA's board, and offered him a deal. Soders was suffering from a rare condition known as Situs Inversus, in which the patient's insides are reversed. In desperate need of a heart transplant, Soders agreed to eliminate the Shadow Client and hand over a full list of ICA's operatives in exchange for an exceedingly rare right sided heart. Following a trail left by a hacktivist, the ICA discover Grey's militia inhabiting an apricot farm in Colorado, led by Sean Rose. Assuming Rose, an already registered target and known terrorist, is the Shadow Client, Soders pushes the board into asking Agent 47 to infiltrate the farm and eliminate Rose, as well as other prominent members of the militia. However, upon infiltrating the farm, 47 and Diana Burnwood conduct an investigation and find that not only is the true Shadow Client targeting Providence, a presumed myth, but that Erich Soders was a Providence mole. Erich Soders was discreetly fast-tracked for his critical heart surgery to the GAMA hospital in Hokkaido, a hyper exclusive hospital. Angered by Soder's betrayal, while also aware that he planned on handing over the list of ICA operatives to Providence, the ICA's board of directors asked 47 to infiltrate the hospital and eliminate Erich Soders. Yuki Yamazaki, Providence lawyer, was also present at the hospital and subsequently targeted as well. Later, The Constant intercepted Diana Burnwood on a train and lamented the death of Soders. He then suggested a partnership between the ICA and Providence, as the ICA had been made a mockery of and Providence had lost key assets. Diana wasn't interested in partnering with someone as untrustworthy as The Constant, until he offered her information on 47's hidden origins. ''HITMAN™ 2 ''Events A week later, the ICA's board of directors accept Providence as a client and agree to hunt down and eliminate the Shadow Client, as well as their private militia. Based on intel found in the apricot farm back in Colorado, the ICA discover the location of another key member of the militia, Alma Reynard. On behalf of Providence, 47 infiltrates Alma's beach house in Hawke's Bay, primarily in search of any possible leads on the Shadow Client. The search was unsuccessful, however 47 did discover a conversation between Alma and Robert Knox, both the CEO of Konstradt Industries and a member of Providence. Knox, as well as his daughter Sierra, had chosen to defect from Providence following an increasing number of militia attacks against their fellow operatives, fearing that they would be assassinated in a similar fashion. 47 eliminated Alma Reynard before exfiltrating. Following the revelation that Providence members had began to consider defection, the Constant gave ICA permission to take down the militia by any means necessary. Starting with the traitorous Knoxes at the Global Innovation Race, 47 and Diana went on a string of assassination missions in order to cripple the militia. After comparing the militia's attack patterns with global shipping and transportation routes, the ICA learn that the private militia has been quietely transporting their men across the world by making use of the Delgado Cartel's underwater distribution network. In order to neuter the militia's ability to move across the globe, 47 travels to Santa Fortuna to assassinate the current leader of the Cartel, Rico Delgado, and his two lieutenants. Despite the Delgado Cartel crumbling, attacks against Providence don't subside. More and more CEOs are murdered and causing a global panic. The militia release a hostage tape outing the existence of Providence to the world, which the ICA's analyists promptly begin tracing the origin of. Meanwhile, 47 travels to India to take out the Shadow Client's 'eastern cell'. The Delgado's were also creating fake IDs for the militia, including one Wazir Kale, better known as The Maelstrom. Providence believes that The Maelstrom, Vanya Shah and Dawood Rangan are behind the murder of one of Providence's latest deceased operatives, the CEO of Ether, and taking them out is among their top prioities. The ICA track the hostage tape back to Romania, and unbeknownst to them, Ort-Meyer's institution. As 47 approaches the barren, dilapidated building, he loses radio contact with Diana, heading in alone. There, he discovers Lucas Grey, the Shadow Client, who manages partially jog 47's memory by reminding him of their pact and convinces him to lay down his weapon. Informing Diana of this revelation, the three meet up alongside hacktivist Olivia Hall and agree to work together to take down Providence. Grey explains the relationship between the Partners and The Constant, stating that the key to taking down the Partners is The Constant, and the key to finding The Constant would be his predecessor. Using an antidote stolen by the militia from Ether's headquarters, 47 reclaims the rest of his wiped memories and remembers that the first Constant was Janus. Providence, as well as the rest of the ICA, are tricked by a false report claiming that Janus was linked to the insitution in Romania and was in fact the real Shadow Client, Lucas Grey being simply a figurehead. Janus, as well as an assumed Providence defect, Nolan Cassidy, become the latest targets of the contract. Regardless, the true objective of the mission was to look around Janus' home in the town of Whittleton Creek for clues for when Janus and his apprentice could potentially meet. 47 discovers that Janus is a founder of The Ark Society, an annual gathering of the rich and powerful who prepare for the end of the world, and that The Constant makes an appearance each year, presumably in search for new Providence recruits. Despite Janus' supposed betrayal of Providence, members of the Ark Society chose to give him a private wake at the next gathering to respect him. His coffin is tracked to unearth the location of the gathering, which is found to be the Isle of Sgàil. Meanwhile, the relationship between the Partners and the Constant has been deeply strained, following the numerous operative deaths as well as the believed betrayal of the first Constant. In order to prove his loyalty, Alexa Alice Carlisle demands that the Constant insert a poison chip in his neck as a fail-safe, in case he is captured or goes rogue. Begrudgingly, the Constant accepts. Two months later, 47, Diana and Grey travel to the Isle of Sgàil for the gathering of the Ark Society. Upon discovering that the Constant has been embedded with the poison chip, and that kill switches have been given to both Zoe and Sophia Washington, 47 eliminates the twin sisters while Grey subdues and exfiltrates with the Constant. The Constant later wakes up, tied to a chair in a ship in the middle of the North Atlantic with the chip surgically removed from his body. Grey and Diana interrogate him, who then explains how Providence came to be and the families that formed it. Unfortunately, the Partners had planned for such an occasion. Obituaries for all three Partners had appeared on the internet, and they had began transitioning to different identities. The Constant then suggests that they 'follow the money'. As the Partners had only just begun transitioning between identities, their accounts at the Milton-Fitzpatrick bank in New York would still be intact. 47 and Grey head to New York; 47 steals the data from the bank and eliminates bank director and Providence Operative Athena Savalas to cover their tracks. Members Leading Members Known Heralds Heralds are the couriers of Providence, getting orders from the Partners, and giving them to the Providence operatives. Known Members Resources and Influence Providence as a mythical shadow government organization, has nearly inexhaustible financial resources. They also have access to the best intellectuals in the world, the most influential politicians in their ranks and even terrorist organizations are employed by them. Their position allows them access to the best technological resources of the world, from regenerative treatments to advanced robotics. They were even the ones who funded Ort-Meyer's genetic engineering programs to engineer human clones with increased natural attributes. Affiliated Organizations Assets: Gallery File:Providence Pin.png|Providence Pin File:Theconstant.jpg|The Constant Trivia * Providence may be based on real life secret society conspiracy groups and theories such as The Hashshashin, The Illuminati, The Templar Knights and The Majestic 12. References Category:Organizations Category:HITMAN™ organizations Category:HITMAN™ Category:HITMAN™ 2 Category:HITMAN™ 2 organizations